Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Purchased by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074 in the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ADP. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $294.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.68, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $302.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.33. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

About Automatic Data Processing

Automatic Data Processing, Inc provides cloud-based human capital management solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Employer Services and Professional Employer Organization (PEO). The Employer Services segment offers strategic, cloud-based platforms, and human resources (HR) outsourcing solutions.